


Wrong City, Wrong People, Wrong Body

by Era_Asha



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bodyswap, Corpo V (Cyberpunk 2077), F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Johnny's a Bastard, Nightmares, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rogue Deserves Better, Self-Harm, fem!v
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:34:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29169666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Era_Asha/pseuds/Era_Asha
Summary: V Builds a body especially for Johnny and they risk everything to make sure they both get out... And things don't quite go as planned.
Relationships: Johnny Silverhand/Female V, Johnny Silverhand/V, Judy Alvarez/Female V
Comments: 16
Kudos: 61





	1. Sculping a New Body

**Author's Note:**

> First of many! Come along for the ride :)

V’s jaw jumped as she stared daggers into the 3D holographic blueprint she was standing over. “For the last _fucking_ time, Johnny, I am absolutely sure.”

“Alt didn’t-” 

She pushed herself off of the table and turned her vitriol directly at him, “I know what Alt said! And what she _didn’t_ say, was that this couldn't work.” She fell back into the chair behind her and pressed her palms into her eyes, in frustration. “I didn’t spend 4 years of my life going to school and then another 6 dealing with this _exact_ shit,” She gestured to the blueprint, “For the words of a single rogue AI to overwrite the work I’ve been doing for-,” She looked over at the clock and seemed to suddenly bear all 28 hours since she last slept, “3 hours.”

Johnny scoffed and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, “Oh, because you’re thing is shoving dead rocker boys into piles of cobbled together chrome!?” 

She gave a humorless snort and turned to look back at her creation. “Might as well be. Millitech _and_ Arasaka bullshit in one build? That’s like putting everything I’ve learned in the past decade into a single project.” 

He rolled his eyes, “Get to finally use that stellar education and mommy’s approval for something useful.” 

She gave him a dark look and a one word warning, “Johnny...” 

He gave a single bitter smile because he knew exactly what he was doing as he stepped right over the line, “Well, maybe not _Mommy’s_ approval but I’m sure Momma Wells would be proud of you for spending so much of your borrowed time on a dead rockerboy.”

She grabbed onto the front of his vest, brought them closer together, and her voice was low and laced with rage, “You should be thanking me, you ungrateful piece of shit.” 

“Oh, should I grovel at your feet too?” He spat back. 

The two of them stared at each other in a tense silence before she shoved him away and stalked back to her desk putting both hands on its surface. She stood there for a second just sitting with a hard knot in her chest that was threatening tears down her cheeks. When she finally spoke, her voice was small and raw, 

“What do you want from me, Johnny?”

Silence. 

She looked up and saw she was alone. 

She sat back down and worked in silence for the next few hours until she suddenly woke up in bed. Laying vertically. With her head on the pillows. Light streaming from the window. The last time she slept like this was at least 2 months _before_ everything went to shit.

She looks over at where her last memory was, at her desk, and finds that everything is put away, she sits up and as the covers slide off her she discovers she is still clothed. She sighs and narrows her eyes at the empty room, “You know there are better ways to apologize for being an asshole.” She, of course, gets no response.

She showers and throws on a white t-shirt and a sturdy military green jumpsuit, leaving the long sleeves tied at her waist, and puts her ocean-colored hair in a high bun with a chopstick she found from an old takeout box before immediately sitting back down at her desk.

Johnny materializes sitting on her desk looking particularly tired, “Come on!” he complains, “Not even breakfast?” 

She slowly looks up at him from her work. “Unless you’re gonna be the one to try and put together 2 million eurodollars worth of equipment in a manner that functions over the course of the next 3 days,” She flashes him a cold, condescending smile, “Then no.”

“Oh for Christ’s- At least order take out or something.” He slides off the desk to stand over it. “I can feel that you’re starving.” She simply stares him down and he closes his eyes and takes a breath and in a quieter tone, “You can’t make it the whole time without eating _something_.” She tenses her lips and doesn't make eye contact with him as she gives a short, frustrated, sigh. The light of her holo activates over her iris as she silently orders pizza.

“There. Happy?”

He nods his head, “Yeah."

She works and he busies himself with people watching for the next 45 minutes until there's a knock at the door with pizza. He would never admit to her the relief he feels when she finally eats but it’s palpable enough that she actively avoids his gaze. 

A few more hours go by like that, the silence transitioning from both of them actively ignoring one another to them both bobbing their heads along with the radio.

She got up and stretched, loosening her joints after they had been in the same position for over 2 hours. She winced as she spoke, "Just messaged Judy, Vik, and Rogue and between the 3 of them they can get most of it though we're gonna be on our own actually obtaining the skeleton and combat ready nerves from Militech later tonight" 

Johnny sat on the windowsill and staring out into the courtyard of the megabuilding and seemingly didn't hear her. She was about to repeat herself when his voice came out very small,

"Why are you doing this for me?" She was a bit blindsided by the question and shook her head in confusion.

"Well, I promised didn't I?"

"You promised to take a bullet for me. This isn't the same." He furrowed his brows, "You were vomiting blood after the concert last night." He turned to looks at her, "You should just try and rest till we meet with Hanako." 

She let out an offended puff of air. "I cough blood most nights. I don't think that one more job is gonna be the end of me and besides," She put her hand on her hip and shifted her weight "I already got other people involved. No turning back now, you're getting a body whether you like it or not." She spun her one office chair to face the middle of the room, “Now sit your ass down so you can have a face that actually looks like you.” 

One of his eyebrows rose as he sat on the windowsill, “You should be able to scan me from over there.” 

She sighed, “Scan can’t get texture or movement.” He looked unconvinced but glitched off the windowsill and into the chair, as she continued to talk, “Trust me, you don’t wanna have a face made with just one scan. It enters the uncanny valley real quick.” She tapped a small circle on her temple and her eyes lit up with a digital set up for holo-sculpting, a toolset only really useful for plastic surgeons, ripperdocs, or cybernetic designers. 

“Take off your glasses, hold still, and look straight ahead.” He glitched his glasses away and he couldn’t help feel a rush of... something as he did was he was told. As she began to walk in an orbit around him it felt like she was staring into his soul. It made him antsy, in a way that he couldn’t describe, and after her second revolution she pulled up a step stool, and sat directly in front of him. She was close. To close as her luminous blue eyes stared directly into his. Her gaze burned and stripped him bare and he found himself looking anywhere but her face.

She had started reaching to change the position of his chin to give her a better angle on his jawline when she suddenly noticed that they were inches apart. They both froze as they simultaneously realised that they had never touched each other while not pissed or terrified. Her gaze flicked back to his eyes then his lips before shaking off the paralysis and softly taking his chin in her hand and focusing back on her task. 

He was going to explode. The pad of her thumb was probably the softest touch he’d ever received and it was all he could do to try and keep his breathing steady. He could handle her punching him. He could handle rough sex. This though? Where he had to grip the armrests not to either glitch away or pull her closer? This was torture.

She used her hand on his chin to get all angles and positions that his head could go into before she leaned back and gave him just a little bit of breathing room. He took the opportunity to relax for just a moment before she spoke. “Alright I apologize for this in advance but I’m gonna have to actually touch and squish your face.” He gave her an alarmed look before she proceeded to demonstrate, “Like thish.” Smooshing and pushing on her cheeks. 

He lightly chuckled at her antics and smiled, “You look like a 12 year old.” 

She kept her cheeks squished as she responded, “I would dike you ta know that I am a theathoned profethional.” He truely laughed then and she grinned at him and let go. 

“I guess I know that I’m in good hands then.” He responded, more truthfully than he had intended. He took a fortifying breath and nodded to her. She flicked out her fingers a couple times, activating some cyberware. It took her a moment before she actually reached out to him and he would never admit it out loud but he definitely leaned into her touch. The pads of her fingers began to glow a soft red as the info transferred to the sculpt but she privately enjoyed the first few moments before actually focusing on the information she needed.

It wasn’t comfortable to have her measure the elasticity, color, and texture of his skin on the different parts of his face, but it wasn’t _uncomfortable_ either once he had finally accepted his fate as being a temporary lab rat and he had dedicated himself to fucking with her instead. At one point she had put her hand around his neck and he looked down at her with a half lidded smirk that he had cultivated exclusively for frustrating people and he was _very_ satisfied when he felt her quickly smothered arousal.

Eventually her thumb brushed over his lips, she had been so focused in her work that until this very moment she had forgotten that she had to measure _Johnny Silverhand’s lips._ She froze in place, her eyes locked onto his lips as she could feel the heat rising to her face. He deliberately made eye contact with her and opened his mouth ever so slightly, inviting her touch. A lopsided grin grew as she stayed there, frozen, “You gonna do anything with that thumb, sweetheart?”

He shook her back into the moment with his voice and as she finally began to move her softly glowing fingers against his lips he began to lean forward, closing the gap between the two of them. She had _almost_ successfully focused back onto the data she was gathering until his tongue flicked out to lap at her thumb. Her breath hitched as a shock of pleasure radiated from her hand straight to her core. 

The self satisfied smirk returned before he stuck out his tongue in a clear offer to be scanned. She didn’t _need_ his tongue... But extra data never hurt. She put two fingers into his mouth and sucked in a breath when the _very real feeling_ of his tongue moving hit her. If he had been satisfied with her reaction _before_ , he was positively gloating in it now, with her eyes blown wide, a slight flush creeping up her neck, and her arousal radiating over their link. 

He bit down and she hissed in pain but the strangled noise she made was delicious as he flicked at her fingertips with the dexterity of a man well versed in his tools. He could _feel_ her in the process of making a terrible decision, but he never found out what it was because right as she decided, Rogue popped up on her holo and she jumped so hard you’d think she was caught watching porn by her parents. 

“Uh- Hey, Rogue. What's up?” She spoke _way_ too quickly and physically walked away from Johnny as if distance would erase the thrumming under her skin and the general feeling of insufferable smugness that she can feel coming from her parasite. Rogue gave her a single amused eyebrow before getting straight to the point.

“Hey V. Just got word that the shipment you're after left earlier than scheduled so you’re gonna have to haul ass if you wanna catch it. Deets being sent.”

“Oh, Fuck. Thanks, I was-” She looked around to find that Johnny was nowhere to be seen, “just about done here anyways.” Rogue hung up as V hunted for her shoes and jammed her feet into them barely remembering to turn off her sensors and holo-sculpt. 

She can deal with the data she got later, for now she had a warehouse to rob.


	2. Skin and Bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> V and Johnny get everything they need and some things they don't.

She dived out of the hallway as bullets ricocheted down it. Everything was going fine until she actually got the damn thing in her hands, then all hell broke loose with a 35 pound weight attached to her back. Her rifle was in her hands as she caught her breath, she was not the strongest person she knew and she felt it trying to lug this thing around. 

“You gotta delta. There’s 3 goons heading this straight towards you.” Johnny called out to her. Her head was screaming and she felt like she couldn’t catch her breath as she pushed off the wall to continue her mad dash out of here. She entered a lab of some sort and she ducked behind a set of counters and waited. “What the fuck are you doing, bitch, I said _delta!_ ” 

“ _Shut up_ , I’m fucking working.” She connected to the one camera in the room and used it to look down the hall, and sure enough 3 soldiers stalked down it, rifles in hand. In quick succession the optics of one cut out, the other twitched and flopped onto the floor after his neural lace shorted, and the last one had the safety on his guns locked.

She blinked her awareness back to herself and got up rifle first to unload into them, but she was cut short by her legs giving out from under her and the oh so familiar _Relic Malfunction_ warning floating in her middle distance. She caught the weight of herself and the tech directly on her hands and the pain shot up her wrists all the way to her shoulders as she coughed out a lung.

Johnny watched in horror as the soldier realized his gun was useless and tossed it aside in favor of a combat knife as he approached V. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” She wasn’t moving nearly fast enough as the relic attack wracked through her and he did the only thing he could and surged forward into her body, wrenching them back away from the knife. 

He brought up their rifle and the soldier was too close as the shots rang out, each hitting their mark in her torso. Johnny swiveled to find that the last standing in the group was beginning to recover his sight but wasn’t quick enough as Johnny easily popped him in the head before sprinting down the hall. 

Only bothering to cap easy targets, he ran through the facility like a bat outta hell, only mostly dodging some shots as he searched for an exit. Two rooms over he spotted a skylight and made a mad dash for it, allowing her chrome to make up the extra jump distance as he shot out the skylight and they sprang to freedom. 

This wasn't like some of the other times he had taken control, she was still very much close to the surface and the instant they were out of sight of the millitech facility he stopped fighting her and let her shove him aside, back into the passenger's seat. 

“Never fucking do that again.” She gasped.

“Oh, sure, next time I’ll just let them flatline you.” He glitched onto a nearby fence and took an unsatisfying drag.

“I had it under control.” She insisted, even as she clutched her chest and focused on breathing.

“‘Cause being inches from getting stabbed in the back is ‘under control’.” He flicked his cig off into nothingness and pushed himself onto his feet, his voice rising, “If you had fucking listened to me and deltaed like I asked, we-”

“We’d be in the same fucking spot.” She spat back at him. “I would have still fallen due to a relic attack and they would have still ridden my ass.” She sat down onto the pavement, finding a sturdy fence post to lean against and gave a monumental sigh. “I dont have the energy to fight with you, Johnny. I felt it coming on and I was trying to buy time by killing them before it hit full force.” She rubbed at her eyes, “That’s it.”

He stood over her, worry grating at the inside of his chest. He wanted to hurt something, he wanted to kick and yell but she was wounded and tired and not only could he not do anything about it, but it was _his fault._ He didn’t have what it took to unpack his feelings about _that_ so instead he looked for a change in subject and found their prize. “What did you risk our neck over, anyways?” She snorted, 

“You weren’t paying attention. Of course.” She started to get up as his Porsche pulled in towards the curb. She grunted in protest as she lifted up the box and slid it onto the trunk and popped the lid, “It’s your skeleton and your nerves.” Inside was a bunch chrome in a vaguely fetal position along with a bunch of wires curled up at the top, and suddenly the weight of the box made more sense.

She closed the trunk and collapsed into the driver's seat, Johnny materializing next to her. “You should wrap your arm before we get too far.” She rolled her eyes, not bothering to look at him as she got everything situated in the car,

“I’ll be fine, it’s just a little blood.” 

“I would do it for you but... I can’t.” He pauses and reaches his hand out to gently hold her wrist. She furrows her brows in confusion at the touch and looks over at him. “Please.” He isn’t wearing his glasses but he’s looking down and away from her, with the most genuine expression she’s seen from him over the months they’ve been together.

She gave him a sad smile and a small laugh, “Alright.” She covered his hand with hers for just a moment before reaching for the medkit in the backseat, “But only because you asked nicely.” She was trying to lighten the mood but instead it came out unbelievably soft and so she wasn't surprised when she turned from the back seat to find him gone.

She slapped some gauze and tape over the two grazes, the worst of which was on her upper arm, and decided to keep the roadrash they got from sliding on those floors one to many times for the more comprehensive medkit at home. She turned on the radio and it opened on the classic rock station, she smiled and tapped the beat to Johnny’s angry yelling on the steering wheel as she drove back home to finish patching herself up and pass out.

The next day she went downstairs for a quick bite and some coffee before she walked over to Viktor’s place. People looked at her a bit odd as she walked with a mental cup holder resting in one of her popped out mantis blades with 2 extra cups of coffee.

She passed through Misty’s shop and dropped off the first one, with cream and sugar, just how she liked it. Misty thanked her and asked how she’s doing. V expertly avoids the question and moved on down to Vik’s. He was working on a patient as she entered.

"Brought you coffee." She calls as a greeting. He glanced back at her and her mantis blade cup holder before barking out a laugh.

"I'm glad to see that little doodad is getting used. Set it down on my desk. I'll be done in a minute." She set the coffee down on the table before pulling the cup holder from her clawed grasp and collapsing it down into her pocket.

While she waited she pulled up the data she got on her optics and started organizing it because she didn’t get a chance to last night with all the chaos. She tapped the button on her temple, brought up the sculpt she got from Johnny, and started putting everything where it needed to be and slowly but surely Johnny’s head began to take shape in the 3D space in front of her. 

“Not going to lie it’s a little creepy.” Johnny commented as he glitched into view leaning against the wall. “What are you gonna do with it?”

“Hopefully have Vik print it out for us, cause however much I want one I haven't gotten a hold of a bio-printer yet.”

Vik waved out his patient and turned to V, “Got your box of C2-T4 synthskin and soft tissue over there.” He pointed with his thumb to a box in the corner. “Now are you gonna tell me what this is about or should I guess?”

V turned off the holo-sculpt and smiled at Vik, “Here, should give you an idea.” She popped out a shard with the finished sculpt and the blueprints and handed it to him. He took it and eyed her skeptically as he slotted it. His face went on a journey as he looked over the shard from surprised to curious to impressed to alarmed.  
  
“V.” he started, “You don't mean to tell me that your building _Johnny fucking Silverhand_ an android to possess?!” he threw up his hands, “He’s an engram for fucks sake!” V sighed and Johnny was wearing his glasses but she could tell that his focus was all on her.

“Yeah, and that doesn’t mean he deserves to just get flatlined or eaten by some crazy AI.”  
  
Vik fell back into his chair, exasperated, “He is literally killing you, and your solution is to give him, what? A second chance to blow up Night City?”  
  
“He didn’t ask to get uploaded to the biochip just like I didn’t ask to get shot in the head, and besides he didn’t blow Arasaka Tower just for the hell of it. I don't think he'll try and do something like that again.” She thought for a moment, “Well... Not without a _very_ good reason at least.” Viktor looks at her, more alarmed than before. 

“Are you sure that’s not just him talkin’?” She snorted into her coffee as she took a sip.  
  
“I am a hundred percent sure. He’s been whining like a bitch ever since I started trying to actually save him rather than let him martyr himself for me.” A hard knot of shame curled in Johnny’s gut at that, he glitched away, having heard enough.  
  
“Well that seems in character at least.” Vik mused.  
  
“‘Sides, It's not like I'm just saving _him,_ with everything that we're putting together I’m hoping to be able to survive this damn biochip, and get us both out of this.”  
  
“You really think so?” Viktor felt a small kernel of hope. “We’ll damn, kid, if anyone could survive this horseshit of a situation, it’d be you.” He brought the scan back up to take a closer look at it. “Alright, you’ve convinced me. What do you need?” V smiled.

“Gotta get this face sculpt printed if you don’t mind, any normal printer won’t have a fine enough nib for what I need.” Viktor nodded as he looked over the sculpt in more detail.  
  
“I’ve seen professional work less detailed than this... You sure you don’t want a job, V?” It was a question he’d asked her before but she took the time to actually consider it this time.  
  
“Maybe. We’ll see after the dust settles.” He smiled.  
  
“I’d like that. Honestly how did you even get-” He cut himself off, after thinking for a second and glanced over at her, “You know what? Never mind, I don’t wanna know.” She was thankful for the darkness of Vik’s shop as her cheeks warmed remembering how _exactly_ she got that data.  
  
She quickly worked to change the subject, “What do you think about using these optics...” and on they went. V had a good workflow with Viktor and it showed as they refined and pared down some of the stuff they would need. However another client of Vik’s walked in before the hour was out and so she left toting her gift box full of skin and a promise to come back in the morning for the head after it was done printing.  
  
The sun was still bright in the sky and so she hopped into the Porsche with her various body parts and headed over to Judy’s, carrying up the most expensive things first. She let herself into Judy’s apartment and saw that she had a small pile of tech that she was twiddling with. Judy turned as she set the heavy box on the floor with a _thud_.  
  
“You’re late.” Judy commented. V chuckled.  
  
“Sorry about that. Got a bit caught up with Vik while I was pickin' up the last couple parts we need.”  
  
Judy eyed the large black box before she looked up at V excitedly, “Is that...?”  
  
V nodded, “Yup. The Millitech 34XROG 200 series, along with the 2077 Alpha3 gold plated fiber optic nervous system.” Judy’s eyes lit up like Christmas as she reached for the box but V stopped her, “Hold on. Take a look at the schematics I drafted up _before_ messing with the ridiculously expensive tech I just stole. Please.” Judy eyed her before letting out a short sigh and taking the data shard from V.

“Fine, but only ‘cause you asked nicely.” V shot her a smile and leaned down to give her a quick kiss before turning back out the door.  
  
“Be right back with the rest!” V called.

The next 24 hours went fairly smoothly, all things considered. Judy got the hardware all settled, XROG synced with the nerves and the custom CPU that they built to house the engram, while V focused on the bioware and making sure the finer synthetic muscles wouldn’t get in the way of the more hardy hydraulic skeleton as well as piece together the skin and made sure everything was relatively seamless.  
  
Johnny, being Johnny, was bored out of his mind and he made sure that everyone knew about it. He only really shut up once they got his head from Viktor and then he didn’t pop around much, said it freaked him out. She was thankful then because once she had his head it was all fine tuning, which meant she finally had to suck it up and put his penis on because she was not cruel enough to give Johnny Silverhand a body without one of his most used organs.  
  
“If you really wanted to touch my dick all you had to do was ask.” Johnny said right next to her ear. V jumped and dropped the adhesive she was using.  
  
“Fuckin’ hell, give me a bit of warning next time.” Johnny chuckled as she bent to pick up the adhesive, “We are literally in the process of building you new body and all you can think about is sex? Seriously?”  
  
“What can I say, I am a very talented man. I can be grateful that your building me a body _and_ think about sex.” He gave her a lopsided grin. She rolled her eyes but didn’t suppress her legitimate smile while she continued working.  
  
It seemed only like an hour or so when V looked up and saw that 4 hours had past and she only had an hour and a half until her meeting with Hanako.  
  
“Shit!” she exclaimed.  
  
“What is it, babe?” Judy appeared in the doorway as V scrambled to get all her shit together.  
  
“I have to go to a meeting hopefully to facilitate actually getting Johnny into any of this,” She gestured to the tech sprawled all over Judy’s apartment, “And its not a meeting I can be late or underdressed too. Most of the biotech’s done, it just has to set...”  
  
“Don’t worry about it. I got it.” Judy assured her. “This isn’t my first rodeo with new tech, you know.” She gave V a soft kiss before leaning back, “What can I do to get you out the door?”  
  
They went over what was left to get done over the next 20 minutes. Thankfully, V had been able to get all of the stuff that only she could do out of the way so Judy probably wouldn’t run into many issues she couldn’t handle.  
  
“I cannot stress how much I appreciate this. Please call Vik if you need anything he knows what’s up and has all the biotech knowledge you could need.”  
  
“Yes, Yes, you’ve told me. Now get out of here!” Judy shooed her out of her apartment to get ready but V stole one last kiss before she left for her apartment and then after that, Embers.


	3. Do or Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Embers was never going to end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters in 2 days? That's hyperfocus for you. Have some emotions!

Johnny materialized in the passenger seat of the Porsche, “Stop vibrating. You’re putting my teeth on edge.”   
  
“I’m not vibrating.” V immediately defended. “I just... I don’t think you quite understand how crazy this situation is.”   
  
“I think you mean dangerous, and I am fully aware of how many ways this is gonna go wrong.” V let out a quick breath.   
  
“That’s not what I mean. Yes, it will be dangerous, but also... Do you understand how many people I would have killed a year ago to get a private meeting with  _ Hanako Arasoka _ ?” His glasses were on but she could feel the glare anyways.   
  
“Are you fucking  _ excited _ ? Now of all times?”

“I mean... Kinda. It’s hard not to be! Not that often you get to go toe to toe with someone of her caliber.” She eyed the road with a feral glint and he was suddenly reminded about how much of a corpo she still was, even if she had been solo for a while. He clenched his jaw in frustration.   
  
“Just don’t get fuckin’ distracted like you do with that corpo dog.”    
  
She laughs softly, “Takamura's physically dangerous but that won’t be directed our way until we actively oppose him. Hanako is dangerous in a completely different way. While he is a particularly skilled guard dog, Hanako is a spider that will weave you a beautiful web before trapping you exactly where she wants you.” She is no longer smiling, the predatory glint is still there but it’s more focused as she heads up to the apartment to get ready.  
  
She fished out a pair of black pumps and a sleeveless blue dress that was specifically designed for a meeting like this, with its hydrophobic fabric to repel any blood and metal plating above her heart and important organs, all while looking perfectly professional. V was finishing the last of her makeup when Johnny materialized behind her.   
  
“Occasionally I forget that you were a corpo and then you pull out shit like this.” he commented. She snorted.

“Can’t help what you’re born into.” She paused to focus on her lipstick. “Didn’t even know it wasn’t what I wanted from life until I was tossed out of Arasaka last year. Jackie helped me see that it wasn’t everything the world had to offer.” She stopped back from the mirror and smoothed out the dress and Johnny couldn’t help but notice how left all of the golden lines of her chrome on display. He was still wearing his glasses but she could feel his gaze as he drank her in. ”See something you like?” She asked.  
  
“I mean, even with all the corpo covering it, I can’t really complain. Hard to go wrong with a body like that.” She smirked.  
  
“Oh? I thought you just liked it so you could experience the land of the living again.” She bent back down onto the countertop to get a closer look at her eyeliner, and smiled when his eyes lingered on her ass, with an appreciative smirk.  
  
“Don’t get me wrong, that does make me fond of it, but this dress definitely highlights some of the other benefits.”  
  
She sighed, brought out of the moment as she was reminded of the dress, “My mom got me this dress. She said that ’every woman needs a good combat dress’, and if she knew how to do anything, it was kill anyone standing in her way.” A memory flashed over their link:  
  
_An imperious woman with platinum blonde hair in a sharp suit, handed V a bloodied knife and said, “Take care of him for me will you?”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Yes, mama.” V voice was softer, no, younger than current V._ _  
_ _  
_ _“That’s a sweet girl.” Her mother stroked her cheek before nudging V towards a man, bound and struggling. V hesitated but felt the weight of her mother’s stare before kneeling down and slitting his throat._

Johnny blinked as he shook off the memory.  
  
“Fuck, V... What kind of psycho does that to their kid?” V looked back at him slightly alarmed.   
  
“You saw that?” He nodded and she chuckled humorlessly, “The kind that wants to become CEO of Millitech, that’s who.” There was a tense silence before he spoke, his tone dark and laced with the coal of righteous anger saved for the corps.   
  
“All they fucking do is take.”

“Johnny, don't you fucking start. We have 10 minutes before we need to leave for Embers, and I am not letting you ruin this before it’s even started.” He turned to her and stuck an accusatory finger in her face.   
  
“You know this stinks like high heaven, V. She's just gonna fuckin’ kidnap or zero you and move on with her life.”   
  
Her voice rose as she spoke, “If she wanted anything but our cooperation she would have already done it by now, Johnny! She’s the fuckin’  _ Heart of Arasoka _ , and quite literally has the power to move mountains at her word.” She almost rubs her eyes in exasperation before remembering her makeup. Johnny stands up before glitching a few feet in front of her and looking her up and down.   
  
“Then why do you have your fuckin’ murder dress on?” V stopped at that, her mouth thinning to a frustrated line.   
  
“Because. One wrong move and we’re entering a bloodbath.” He threw his hand up into the air.   
  
“Then why are we going at all? Lets say fuck her and figure this out on our own!”   
  
“How?!” she yelled back at him, “I didn’t even  _ hear  _ about Mikoshi and I was in Arasaka  _ Counterintelligence _ , Johnny. Who the fuck are we gonna have to find to- Fuck!” She cried out in pain and stumbled back onto the countertop, knocking her makeup onto the floor. Her eyesight glitched as that  _ fucking warning  _ came into view and Johnny was by her side in an instant, steading her shoulders to make sure she didn't fall.    
  
“Fucking hell, V.” He held onto her tighter as she came down from the attack, each tremor wrenching at his heart.   
  
Once she had settled she pushed him away, leaving his arms empty as she spoke, “We don’t have time to fight, Johnny.” After she made sure her makeup hadn’t been smudged by the attack she grabbed her clutch and strode out the door.   
  
Ember’s was a breath of toxic, if familiar, air. She navigated the conversation with Hanako with the ease of any high exec, even getting the information as to where the Mikoshi access point was before her body decided to rebel against her because it had turned out she was right, they had run out of time.    
  
She mused on this in the dark, wondering if her last memory would be of Johnny yelling at her in the elevator. Maybe it was going to be the Johnny show from now on, even after everything she did to try and get him his own body, he went and took hers anyways. She might have been upset by that if she hadn’t been so numb.    
  
“Is this death?” She spoke into the nothing.   
  
“Nah. Not yet, anyways.” Johnny’s voice flowed into her consciousness right before the pain and awareness of her body hit her. She couldn’t help the string of curses that fell from her dry lips as she grew aware of the sound of Vik’s voice and the pressure of the chair underneath her, the smell of disinfectant and the taste of blood in her mouth.   
  
Everything seemed so far away, even the pain, as all encompassing as it was, was miles away. The only thing that was sharply in focus, was Johnny, leaning against the punching bag on the opposite side of the room.   
  
She could hardly pay attention to Viktor as he gave her the terminal diagnosis. “This is your last chance. I know you had something planned out but if you can’t do that in the next 36 hours, you’ll flatline before you get there. Last set of meds will get you that far at least.” He stepped out of the way and showed her the table with the last 2 meds that he and Misty gave her.   
  
She nodded a bit dazedly at him as she slowly got up, Johnny was looking away from her but the instant she stumbled he was half reaching for her until she caught her balance. He summoned up a smoke and leaned back as she slowly made her way to the table.   
  
“V, you’re a fucking mess.” He said. She glared at him with unrestrained malice, too tired to empathize or hold back.   
  
“Yeah, and I wonder  _ who’s fault that is _ .” His jaw clenched but he, surprisingly, didn’t take the bait.   
  
“I know. That's why I’m gonna fix it.” he took a puff of his smoke. “Take the Endotrizine and I’ll get us to Mikoshi.”   
  
“Don’t even wanna give me  _ one fucking second _ before trying to take the wheel again,  _ do you. _ ” she spat. “Just give me a minute to think, dammit.”   
  
**_“You said it yourself, V. We’re out of time.”_ ** Johnny pushed and Vik turned towards her,   
  
“V, Christ, You’re talking out loud!” She blinked at him, confused.   
  
“Out.. loud?” She had never seen Vik so distressed as he yelled at her.   
  
“Just go fix this thing!”   
  
She grabbed the meds... And the pistol on the table before following Misty to the rooftop. She gave V the warmest hug V had gotten in a long while before parting with the words, “I hope you can find a way out of this, V. I really do, but no matter what, I support your decision.”    
  
V was left alone then, with her constant companion. He glitched onto the edge of the roof and they sat in silence for a minute.   
  
“You scared me, you know that?” He turned to her, glasses nowhere to be seen, as he was framed against the Night City skyline. “Thought you were on your way out.”   
  
“Nope. I’m still here... For now at least.”    
  
“Well... Said it earlier but... It’s do or die time. If you need to say goodbye to anyone, now’s the time. Planning and pills can wait.” She shook her head.   
  
“I’m not saying goodbye to anyone.” Even though she was courting death, steel shone in her eyes. “We’re both getting out of this alive, and I can talk to them then.”   
  
“V... No matter what we do the risk is gonna be high. I regret that I didn’t call anyone before my last stand and I don’t want to see you make the same mistake.”  
  
“I know what I said,  _ Silverhand _ .” Her earlier venom was tempered but not gone as she spoke. Johnny closed his eyes and took a deep breath before meeting her eyes again.   
  
“You’re hurting, so I won’t fault you for being a bitch...” He looked out over the city and she followed his gaze to an ad for Secure you Soul, the start of this whole thing. “We’ve come a long way to get here haven’t we.”   
  
She nodded, “‘Specially since you tried to ace me on day one.”   
  
“Now I’m trying my best to save you and you’re gonk enough to try and help me in return. Funny how that worked out.” He gave her a soft smile that hardened into a more focused look. “Look. You’ve been putting in hours and hours into this thing with Judy, let me find the way to Mikoshi.   
I know I can convince Rogue to help me with this and me and her are the closest you can get to professionals with this sorta gig.”   
  
V leaned over and put her head her hand, rubbing at her temples, “I wish there were better options. The Aldecaldo’s would probably be able to help but there would be too many bystanders involved and Arasaka...” They were literally linked by the soul and she still couldn’t tell what he thought just then, as he waited for her next words. “If it were just me maybe I could chance it but.. There’s no way they wouldn’t just...” A large lump formed in her throat. “ _ delete _ you.”   
  
She found herself shoved into a miserable spiral by the thought as all of the stress of the past 4 months finally caught up with her. He just blinked, overwhelmed by her emotions for a moment before he was able to focus back on the woman in front of him. He stood up from his place on the edge, crouched in front of her, and pulled her hand away from her face and held it so he could meet her bloodshot eyes with his.   
  
“Hey.” He brushed her hair out of her face with his other hand, the metal cool against her skin. “We’re both getting out of this, right? You said it yourself.” She weakly nodded and he pressed their foreheads together and barely whispered, “If anyone is gonna make it out of this alive, it's gonna be our stubborn asses.” She laughed and he wished he could just do that forever but she was still dying and they had shit to do so he stood up but held onto her hand. “Gotta make a choice, princess. I’ll follow your lead.”   
  
She took a fortifying breath and set her jaw, “I hate to not see the end but... You and Rogue have the best chance of getting there with the android in one piece. I’ll call Judy and have her bring it to the Afterlife and then... It’s gonna be all you.” Johnny nodded.   
  
V’s holo rung and Judy answered on the first ring, not a good sign. “V. Where are you? You said you’d call if you got held up and you were set to be home like 2 hours ago” She sounded strained.   
  
“Yeah, sorry. Had a relic attack on the way home and ended up in Vik’s chair again.” Judy took in a sharp breath, “I’ve got 36 hours max to do something about it so we’re finally making our move, which means I’m gonna need the bot. Can you get it done in 12 hours and bring it to the Afterlife?”   
  
Judy had a rush of mixed emotions. “The bar? Uh-,” but she stopped short as she looked around at her apartment to do some quick math. “Not by myself... Though I could probably swing 16 if I rushed and only did the light diagnostics.”   
  
V cursed, knowing that the thorough Diagnostics could take up to 12 hours for a build of that complexity. “That will have to do, I need to go but I have to warn you... Johnny is going to be at the wheel so this will probably be the last time we’ll be able to talk before shit hits the fan and I know it’s early but... I love you and I would hate doing this whole thing without you knowing that.”   
  
“V...” She looked at a loss for words before setting her mind to something big. “I’ll say it when you come back alive so... so make sure you do.” V smiled through the complicated sea of emotions she was feeling right now and nodded.   
  
“It’s a date. I’ll be there, promise.”   
  
“You better.” Judy demanded before she hung up.   
  
Johnny had moved back to his place on the edge of the roof to give them some privacy but that didn’t stop the sharp twinge in his chest that he did his best to put a hard vice on. V took a shaky breath before picking up the Endotrizine. “Don’t fuck this up, okay?”   
  
He turned back to her. “I won’t.” She swallowed the pill.


	4. Coin Flip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> V and Johnny have to make a difficult choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time but well get longer next chapter, promise :)

V felt herself dragged into unconsciousness by the drugs as Johnny took over. She didn’t know how long she was under but she got flashes of what was happening around them:    
  
The smell of alcohol.    
The face of a merc she recognized as Weyland.   
Cyberspace.   
“ _ I’m glad she has Judy.” _   
Rogue smiling like a madwoman.    
The smell of fresh earth.   
The adrenaline of combat.    
Adam Smasher holding Rogue.    
“ _ Fuck, she was always better at this _ .”   
A shock of cold.   
  
She woke up standing in cyberspace, Alt appeared before her and said, “I have begun the Soulkiller program wait here.” Before transferring a set of data that explained the process and disappearing again. Leaving her alone.   
  
With nothing else to do, she paced back and forth. Staring out into cyberspace into the column of light that drew her attention. Was it even working? She would never be able to tell with how Alt was blocking the sensation. Could they trust Alt? And right as she started to spiral alone with her thoughts Alt’s voice filtered in, omnipresent, her visual representation nowhere to be found:   
  
“Once out of nature I shall never take,    
My bodily form from any other natural thing,    
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make,    
Of hammered gold and gold enameling,    
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake,    
Or set upon a golden bough to sing,    
To lords and ladies of Byzantium,    
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.”    
  
She recognized it as the last part of Sailing to Byzantium, a poem that she thought was fairly apt, considering what they were trying to do. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned towards him, relieved to see him with a familiar smile.   
  
“Told you I wouldn’t fuck it up.” Johnny said. She gave him a soft look.   
  
“Good job. I got bits and pieces but nothing concrete, is Rogue okay?” She asked, knowing the answer but needing to ask anyways, needing to be  _ sure _ . His face fell.   
  
“She died on her own terms: Sticking a grenade in Smasher’s chest.” She nodded.   
  
“A warrior’s death then.” She closed her eyes and spoke a familiar prayer into cyberspace. “ _ May you find your place in the Hall of Heroes where you belong. _ ” Johnny was looking at her strangely.   
  
“Where’d you learn that?” He asked.   
  
“My grandmother. She taught it to me as a way to ‘honor fallen allies and foes’, whatever that means. I’ve don’t it ever since though, seems respectful.” V smiled as she looked at him, “It’s funny to think about but she would be only a little older than you if she were still alive.”   
  
“I’m gettin’ a weird sense of dejavu here... Your family was Millitech right? Your grandmother too?” V nodded a bit confused, “Her name couldn’t have been Jasmine Raya, right? Lt. Jasmine Raya?”   
  
“Holy shit, Johnny. Did you fight with my fucking grandma?!”   
  
He chuckled, “Seems like it. Fought more next to her than with her proper, I was with the Army and she was a part of a Millitech outfit stationed nearby as support. She was one scary bitch.”   
  
“That never changed, she was both scary and a bitch till the day she died.” Johnny sighed, another reminder of the time lost, V decided to change the subject. “Alt’s been hitting us with Soulkiller since I woke up a while ago. Our bodies in one piece?”   
  
“Made sure they were parked nicely in Arasaka’s Basement.” He raised his voice, “Hey Alt! Gonna show yourself? Say hi maybe?”   
  
“Haven’t seen her since she told me she started, no doubt she’s finishing up now.”    
  
“So, we at the finish line? It’s all in Alts hands now?”   
  
“No.” Alt manifested next to them.   
  
“What do you mean, “No”?” V asked, a bit frustrated.

“I made a mistake in excluding the body as a factor. DNA regression has progressed so far. Added to aggressive, invasive medications, the body’s immune system attacking its own neurons...” V felt the dawning horror as she realized what she was getting at.   
  
“Spit it out! In human terms!” Johnny demanded.   
  
“V will die. Independent of what I do. This is inevitable. This is imminent.” V felt like she had been punched in the gut as she put her head in her hands.

"Check again! If there's an issue with her engram maybe we can fix-" Johnny’s voice was aggressive but Alt brokered no argument when she interjected.   
  
“Hardware - therein lies the problem. The organism’s neurons have been dying for a time. Any attempt at a procedure upon its brain would result in the latter’s death.”   
  
“You’re a fucking genius, Think of something!” Johnny’s voice was so  _ loud. _

“Will both of you  _ SHUT UP _ for a second!? I have to think.” She could feel everything unraveling. In front of her and she couldn’t  _ think,  _ but the two of them ignored her as she tried to piece herself together enough to come up with something,  _ anything _ , that might help them get out of this.

“Alt, come on there has got to be a way outta this.”   
  
She shook her head. “The biochip has irreversibly changed the host organism. It no longer belongs to V, who is an intruder there. The situation is different for you. All changes were made to accommodate you.”   
  
“Are you telling me to just  _ leave my own body!? _ ” V yelled, directly at Alt.   
  
“The changes are irreversible. You have nothing to lose, while he has everything to gain.” Alt coolly responds, too detached for simple base emotions like empathy. “I will not interfere with your personal affairs but while Johnny is in full control, he can do as he wishes.”    
  
V glitched away from Alt and Johnny, sitting on the floor with her head in her hands. Of course they couldn’t just leave her to think and a moment later Alt manifested next to her and Johnny just walked over.    
  
“I’m not going to do that to you V.” He said sitting down in front of her.   
  
“Johnny... Fuck. Maybe you  _ should  _ just keep it... If it's just gonna die on me anyways." 

  
"I made a fucking promise V." He pulled her hand away from her face, an echo of the last time they interacted on the roof. “You’re going back into your body.”

“I don’t want to slowly rot away in my own fucking flesh, Johnny... I spent so long on that goddamn hunk of-” V lit up as her brain finally came up with something. She turned to look up at Alt. "What about the bot I made for Johnny? No genetics to fuck up in chrome."    
  
Alt said nothing for a second. “The synthetic shell is engram agnostic, however I would give a 51.72% chance that an engram could successfully be integrated on that piece of hardware.”

"A coin flip?!” Johnny argued, “V we are  _ not _ banking your existence on a goddamn coin flip! Lets just go with the goddamn original plan?! Just stick her in hers and me in mine and we'll fucking figure it out." V balked at him.   
  
“Oh but it’s suddenly not a problem if you’re the one that might get corrupted or fried!? Even though I'm the one that would wake up alone  _ and dying _ !?” she knocked his hand away and got up to stand over him, “Fuck off with your martyr complex for two seconds and listen to me! It's my design, it’s my work, and it’s my life asshole. I’m either getting uploaded into that fucking robot or I’m joining Alt.” For all of her anger, more than anything there was the visceral fear that fueled her right now, so overwhelming that he was left speechless. “Because I am  _ not  _ leaving this place alone.” Tears fell down her cheeks as her anger began to fizzle, “ _ Not without you _ .”    
  
He got onto his feet to face her and grabbed onto her shoulders and looked at her, really  _ looked _ , as he searched her face for a better answer, he wanted to argue but she was right. He closed his eyes and hung his head.

"...Fine.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I- I'll follow you where you lead." It was less of an admission than he wanted to give but he was a coward even when she was risking herself by trying her luck in an untested pile of tech. 

"You will find 2 wells behind you, the left will bring you to the organic body, the right to the synthetic." Alt said.   
  
She tried to move towards the well but Johnny held her there, unable to meet her eyes. She put her hands on one of his that was in a death grip on her shoulder.    
  
“Johnny, we ha-”   
  
“I don’t want to wake up alone either.” he admitted, as he raised his gaze to meet hers. “Just make sure you’re there... okay?”   
  
She gave him a sad smile and echoed her words to Judy, “It’s a date.” He finally let go of her and walked over to the well on the left. She glitched onto the side of it and helped him into the well and as he began to sink down it she said. “See you on the other side, Johnny.”   
  
Once he was gonna she moved toward the remaining well but stopped at its lip directing her attention to Alt. "What was it like? To love him."    
  
Alt joined her next to the well and looked down at her. “Painful.”   
  
V chuckled, “Sounds about right.” V took Alt’s hand, the AI looking at her with what V could only call confusion, “Thank you, for everything .”

"No need to thank me. I am simply fulfilling my end of the bargain. Do not expect my help in the future. I will not answer his call." V nodded, understanding, as she climbed into the well..

"Goodbye, Alt."    
  
“Goodbye, V.”


	5. Heated Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny meets up with V's friends to try and fix the android she's stuck in.

He woke up freezing as he gasped for air from under the coolant dragging himself out. His hand was still attached to the androids neck but he didn’t dare to disconnect. Not until something happened with it anyways. He pulled it out of the liquid as carefully as possible but it was heavier than it had any right to be. He waited for a minute and his heart began to sink as panic creeped in. Two more minutes passed before it spasmed in his arms and one eye opened.   
  
“Ugh, that was not comfortable." His voice sounded like it did on recordings. Higher than he was used to and the words sounded off, but he couldn’t tell how.   
  
“..V?” It smiled and looked up at him.   
  
“Johnny.” It grimaced after looking at him. “Oh that’s weird.” Johnny laughed and looked down at her after exhaling a shaky breath of relief and held her close. It was a bit awkward as she hugged him back, they both were not the sizes they were accustomed to being but as they rested their foreheads against each other there was a deep feeling of contentment, of belonging that he wasn't going to analyze... Not while their lives were still in danger.   
  
“Oh thank god. You scared me there for a second, and yes it is very weird.” He noticed the one eye of the body was still closed. "How's the tech holding up?"    
  
It pulled away from him by sitting up and started to test its movement, opening and closing its hands and rolling its shoulders, flexing its feet and bending its legs. It tried to get up but stumbled as one of its knees couldn't bend properly. He was up in an instant making sure she didn’t fall. "Well. Could be better. Pretty sure we miscalculated the allowance in the left knee and this eye won't work so my depth perception is shot but I should still be able to hack and cover as needed, though I’ll be slow.” She looked him over, “How are you holding up? You look like shit."    
  
“Exhausted, beat to shit, and sore, but nothing I can’t handle.” he smirked at her and looped his arm under its-  _ her  _ shoulders. “Let’s get outta here.”

Thankfully with all the chaos Alt was causing and the amount of security already dead it wasn't particularly difficult for the two to limp their way into the night. They got onto the street and Johnny just waited until she looked at him expectantly.

"You’re the one with the holo." V reminded him. He blinked a few times before cursing and pulling up Delamain on the holo.   
  
“Delamain, we’re ready.”

“Excellent, I shall be there in 1 minute.” True to his word he pulled up to their location a few moments later and they piled in, keeping an eye on the chaos outside of Arasaka tower while Delamain drove them in a roundabout way back towards her apartment. Once they had gotten a chance to catch their breath V spoke up, brows furrowed.

"Could you call Judy? I don't think I’ll be able to get this eye working on my own, and I'll need to open up this knee to get to it.” She took a breath. “And fuck I didn't notice before with everything going on but I feel like I'm-" A panicked look crossed the her face before she finished, "On fire. “She turned towards Johnny with his brown eyes wide with panic. “Johnny, I'm sorry but I think I'm going to have to put you in the driver's seat more directly this time. I think I might be overheating and I need to shut down before I fry something. Get me to Judy." 

He clenched his jaw and nodded. He brought their foreheads together once more, holding their gaze. "I got you." 

He watched as the eye unfocused and the body went limp, the small green light on its ear going yellow and then dark. He felt a twinge of panic. Was that how that was supposed to happen? He got a dark sense of déjà vu before the memory of Jackie’s death came forward. He shook it off and did the only thing he could.   
  
He called Judy.   
  
It rang once before heading to voicemail. Johnny cursed and tried again, this time it went straight to voicemail. The panic was getting harder to hold back. He directed Delamain to head to Judy’s place, keeping an eye behind them for any tails.   
  
When they got to Judy’s the atmosphere was tense and quiet. No usual chatter of people outside or in their apartments. Johnny had Delemain circle the building until he could get a look at Judy’s window. The light was on but Judy’s back was to the window and she had a tense posture to her. Johnny didn’t like it.

He asked Delamain to park down the alley from the apartment complex and just like he thought, about 10 minutes later, a set of intimidating looking people left the building and entered a black van around the corner.   
  
After they left, Johnny quickly scaled the steps to Judy’s apartment and he was about to knock when he remembered she had given V access. He opened the door and it quickly closed behind him, when he turned into the apartment Judy had a gun pointed at him but relaxed when she saw V’s body.   
  
"Fucking hell, you guys don't do anything small do you, Arasaka goons were just here asking after you.” Judy said practically trembling. “Thank God you're alright."

"Sorry to burst your bubble but I'm still Johnny. V is downstairs in your pile of tech and had to shut it down cause it was overheating." She looked at him in alarm.

"That wasn’t the plan!"

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock, now are you gonna help me carry her upstairs or what?" Judy let's out a harsh breath before shouldering past him.    
  
"I expect a full fucking explanation from you both." Johnny snorted as he turned to follow her.

"If we survive that long, sweetheart, I'll tell you anything you wanna hear."    
  
Judy cursed to herself, "My place isn't the best for hiding out against a capital-C Corp, do you have someplace with a few turrets and a small army?"   
  
“Would a nomad camp with a basilisk work?"   
  
"Better than I expected. Let's get her into my car and we'll head out." He nodded and they got to work.   
  
Most of Judy’s stuff was still in her car, she hadn’t unpacked it since her last fancy to leave Night City and Johnny was glad for that. There wasn’t enough room in Judy’s van for all Judy’s stuff, Judy, V’s body, and Johnny’s body. So they put some of the less important things into Delamain’s cab and asked him to take the longest route to the Aldecaldo Camp that he reasonably could.

With Delamain driving in the opposite direction, They hopped into Judy’s van and made their way out to the edge of the city. Judy was driving as normal as she could possibly be. Not wanting to garner any extra unwanted attention.   
  
“So. What the hell happened?” She started. Johnny sighed, unsure where to begin.

“Look, she could probably tell it better than I could but...” Judy took a second to glare at him before resuming her eyes on the road. He put up his hands in defense. “I know, I know. I’m not gonna leave you in the dark. It’s just... a lot.”   
  
“Then start with how the hell she got onto the ‘bot? Cause last I checked she isn’t the engram. You are.”

“Alt had to hit her with Soulkiller to separate us and then the plan was for her to upload V back to her body and me to mine but the biochip fucked too much up in here.” He tapped the forehead he was attached to. “Would have rejected her.”   
  
“Well then, why can it accept you and not her if she was already an engram?” He shook his head.

“Alt said ‘cause “All of the changes were made to accommodate” me but I got no clue what that means other than I can hang in here no problem while she would slowly die over the next 6 months.”    
  
“So, what? You decided to take over instead?”    
  
“I didn’t decide  _ shit _ . Alt said your hunk of junk-” Judy made a very offended noise. “had a 50/50 chance of accepting an engram  _ at all _ , I wanted to take the chance but... V gave me an ultimatum that I couldn’t say no too.” His throat started to tense up and breathing got a little harder as he thought of her yelling at him in cyberspace.   
  
“Of course she did...” She sounded frustrated before she looked over at him. “Uh- Are you okay?” He looked at her confused. “You’re crying.” He brought his hand to his face and it came back wet.    
  
“I guess I am.” He hadn’t cried since he was a kid but he was crying now as everything hit him at once. Judy drove on in silence as he tried and mostly failed to put himself together.

When they pulled up to the camp he had some semblance of composure back as they were met with a group of Aldecaldos with Mitch in their number. They looked ready to shake somebody down until Johnny got out of the car.   
  
“V!” Mitch yelled with a smile as he closed the distance. As Johnny was hit with another wave of emotion at the sound he determined that these reactions were probably a body thing and that they were gonna be a pain in the ass as he tried to wrestle with it to make sure he didn’t start crying all over again. Mitch’s smile faded as he got closer and saw that V’s body was all banged up and along with his emotional state. “My god, V. are you okay!?”   
  
Johnny took a stabilizing breath before he could speak, “Can you get Panam for me?”    
  
“Uh yeah. Just a sec.” Mitch ran off and came back a few minutes later with Panam and Saul.   
  
“V!” Panam called and it just tore through him.   
  
“ _ Stop calling me that! _ ” he yelled. Everyone gave him very alarmed looks as he suddenly lashed out at them. He immediately started backpedaling, his voice growing softer, “Please... I’m sorry I-” Judy, the wonderful woman she was, interjected.   
  
“It’s a long story, but this is Johnny.” Panam’s gaze snapped to him and she looked like she was ready to punch him.   
  
“Where is V!?” Judy stepped between him and Panam with her hands up defensively.   
  
“V is complicated but I’m pretty sure she’ll be alright if I have some time and help. We only want to have to tell this story once so I need anyone aware of V and Johnny’s situation as well as anyone who is good with cyberware or robotics.”

Panam looked behind Judy and pointed at Johnny. “If she isn’t alright I’ll fuckin’ kill you.” 

“If she isn’t alright, I’ll fuckin’ let you.” He responded, holding her gaze.

Ten minutes later he was in a tent with a half dozen Aldecaldo’s describing how all this happened from the very beginning, starting with the heist. They listened quietly and he glossed over a lot of their more personal moments and just stuck to highlights relevant to how the hell they ended up like this. Judy helped with some of the more technical parts of when they were building the actual body and it all took around half an hour to get everything relevant in a vaguely cohesive narrative.

“-and now we’re here, out of the city, trying to fix it.” He finished, there was silence for a minute as people processed everything he said. Saul spoke up first.

“Well I guess that explains why she passed out a few days ago. Hard to believe but the truth is rarely simple.”   
  
“She told me about some of it when she woke up but this... Is a lot. We’ll do what we can, of course, she’s earned that much.” Panam said before turning to Judy. “You can at the very least stay here...” She looked over at Saul who was giving her some kind of  _ look _ that he couldn’t decipher. “But we’ll have to talk about other stuff first.”

Carol stood up from her chair and stretched. “Well I definitely have more questions but those are mostly for you.” she said to Judy, “Dunno how much I’ll be able to help with the finer stuff but at the very least I could be a pair of extra hands.” Mitch scratched his head and spoke.

“Damn. I’m in even less of a boat as Carol but since you used some military grade chrome for the base I might be able to help with some of the bigger stuff. You want the fine and detailed though, you gotta work with him.” He gestured towards Omen, the Aldecalo’s ripper doc. Omen seemed deep in thought, but snapped out of it hearing his name

“Uh- Yeah. It sounds interesting but I’d need to see it first before knowing if I could be of any help.” Judy gave a small smile.   
  
“Well, people that wanna help should follow me.”

Johnny followed them more out of a lack of anything else to do. Panam and Saul stayed in the tent and he heard arguing right as the flap closed behind him though about what he couldn’t tell you. The 4 chromenuts headed out to the car and spent the next hour or so just  _ talking _ and an eternity later, they got a tent set up for Judy and the bot between the ripper doc trailer and the mechanics tent. When he asked if there was anything he could do he was told to sit down, shut up, and take a nap. 

He sat down just outside of the tent onto the dirt. About an hour or two in Mitch had been coming in and out and Carol disappeared off somewhere but Panam came over with a pot of something that smelled like heaven. It was just a beef stock with potatoes but he was exhausted and it had been at least 30 hours since he last ate so he greedily snatched the plate and started devouring its contents.

“Woah, slow down there, tiger, you’ll make yourself sick.” Johnny stopped to look at her and pondered going right back to it out of spite but he was already struggling and he didn’t need that on his list of things to deal with right now. She looked at him sitting on the ground with an amused expression. “You know, there are actual chairs by the fire pit.” 

“Well, I happen to like this spot.” He responded, trying to be snarky. 

“Oh?” She raised one eyebrow. “And I'm sure that you picking this spot has  _ nothing  _ to do with the fact that V is in there.” 

“I... I don't want to be too far when she wakes up.” He admitted. Panam’s expression turned a bit soft.

“I don’t think 20 feet will make that much of a difference but...” She sits down about 5 feet away from him on a rock and starts to eat her own plate. “I guess we’re two of a kind.”


	6. Learning Experiences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Judy and Johnny bond over how shitty this all is and Johnny learns somethings. TW: Mild Self Harm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait on this one but it's a longer chapter for you guys! :)

They sat together for hours until the sun started rising and Judy and Omen finally came out of the tent together looking exhausted. 

He and Panam both perked up.

“So?” Panam asked.

“Well we got the obvious issues fixed but now we have to do a real diagnostic which will take...” Omen looked down at his holo. “10 hours and 26 minutes.” Both he and Panam groaned in unison. 

“Hey! Shut it. We don’t want her to wake up and accidentally fry herself cause we wired something wrong.” Judy chastised and they both sobered immediately. “Also, Johnny have you gotten any sleep? Like, at all?” He shook his head.

“Can’t.”

“Johnny.” Judy looked at him as if he was  _ particularly  _ stupid. “You can push your own body all you like but that one isn’t yours. You are  _ holding onto it _ ,” She pointed her finger at his chest. “until we can get this whole thing sorted.”

He looked at her, a sneer on his lips, “Well can you fuckin’ blame me? I don’t know if you’ve looked around recently but that gonk stuck in your hunk of junk is all I got left.”

“Oh yeah?” Judy challenged, “We’ll I don’t know if I’ve heard you say a single good thing about her since you took over and the fact that you’re constantly calling  _ her design _ , you know, one of the most advanced pieces of tech not owned by a Corp or a Gov, a “hunk of junk” isn’t putting points in your favor, asshole.”

“Well maybe I would be more appreciative if it  _ fucking worked _ !” He rose out of his seat in time with his voice.

“Well I’m _sor-ry_ that we put together an entire body that _mostly worked_ on the **first try**!” She matched his volume and then some as the hunger and stress got to her. “Just because you’re too _stupid_ to understand how much of a miracle that is, doesn't mean I’m gonna let an pile of code in the shape of a dead terrorist talk shit about the woman _that_ _I love_ who risked herself _for_ ** _you_** _._ ”

He stared her down. Normally he would have brushed this off, just tell her to fuck off and move on, but he could feel himself on the verge of tears  _ again _ and that just pissed him off even more. “Well, you’re not  **fucking** special! Everyone in their _ right mind  _ loves her, you  _ cunt,  _ and I’m wishing more than ever that I had gotten my way ‘cause then she could be here to deal with your shit instead of me!”

Both Panam’s and Judy’s eyes were fixed on him, shocked, for a solid second, until Judy burst out in hysterical laughter.   
  
“ _ Fucking  _ **_what?_ ** ” he growled, quickly losing any semblance of cool as he used his palm to wipe away the tears before they fell in earnest.

“ _ Of course _ .” Judy breathed out as she wrestled to get her laughter under control. “Of _ fucking course, _ you love her.”   
  
“Shiiit.” Panam whistled, having watched the whole exchange. “That’s fucked up.”

He clamped his mouth shit, his teeth clacking together with the force before he said anything else. His cheeks warmed with anger and humiliation as he turned on his heel, unable to abate the tears this time as he stalked off into the desert outside of camp 

He spent about 20 minutes out there, kicking dirt and tossing rocks. He had the urge to punch something, but he looked down at  _ her _ hands and just sat down against a rock in exhaustion. The need for the pain to ground himself was there but... He didn’t want to have to hurt  _ her _ to do it.

He studied her hands. He had never bothered to do it the other times he had been in the driver seat because he had other things to do and the only time  _ she  _ had really touched  _ him  _ was... He brought her hand up to his lips. It had been less than a week since they really  _ touched _ for the first and possibly only time. Memories of her blue eyes blown with pleasure and the feel of her hand in his mouth juxtaposed with her crying and shoving at him in cyberspace.

_ I’m not leaving here alone! Not without you. _

He swallowed past a lump in his throat and stared out at Night City. He had no interest in crying again today so he tried to focus on the desert sun beating down and the city in front of him instead. From this distance you couldn’t see the dirt and corruption, just the ad banners floating up the sky and the ever buzzing drones and cars. 

He heard the crunching of dirt behind him and looked back to see Judy. “I‘m not interested in round two.” He called, too tired to deal with another bout. “Fuck off.”

“Not here for a round two.” She said. She sounded calmer now, none of the previous frustration. She stood next to him, shading him from the sun and looking out at the view with him. Without looking she held out a bottle of water. He looked at her for a second before taking it. The silence stretched, both of them looking out at the city before she spoke.

“Panam told how long you had been out there and... I came here to apologize.” He looked up at her and she wasn’t looking at him, her eyes attached to the horizon, but there was no sign of sarcasm or malice. “Cause you might be an asshole, but that doesn’t mean that you deserved that.” 

He wasn’t sure how to receive it. “Uh... Thanks?” he fidgeted with a twig he had picked up. “I wasn’t exactly  _ kind  _ either. So.. Uh.. Sorry ‘bout that.”

She shrugged and sat down next to him onto the dirt. “We’re both under a lot of stress, and there is a lot riding on this thing.”

“Yeah.” He nodded in agreement. “You two still got that date to go on.” Judy’s face fell and she nodded and looked down at her hand, it was covered in bandaids and there was grease under her fingers.   
  
“Yeah... We do.” She swallowed. “...I kinda regret not telling her.” The smile he gave her was sad as he raised his drink at her in a silent cheers. 

“Join the club.”

They sat in companionable, if somber, silence. He finished his water and pushed himself up from the ledge. He offered a hand to help her up. 

“It’s fuckin’ hot out here.” he commented. She breathed out a laugh and took it.   
  
“You can say that again.”

The two of them started walking back, neither of them in any sort of rush. Judy’s lips were pursed, her eyebrows were drawn together and she was chewing on the inside of her cheek. He had seen this before.

“Spit it out.” he called. She responded with a confused look and he explained. “You got the face where your chewin’ on somethin’, saw enough of it while you were building with V to recognize it.” She chuckled.

“That obvious, huh? Well... I was thinking that I have no clue how we’re gonna fix this.” She gestured towards him and the body he inhabited.

He opened his mouth and then closed it again. He hadn’t actually thought that far ahead yet. He had been so focused on getting her awake that he hadn’t even considered how they would get themselves back to where they should be.

“Fuck.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and kicked some rocks on his path as they walked, V’s boots getting scuffed in the dirt. “Well... I mean after we get her awake we can try contacting Alt again.” She shook her head.

“I still can’t believe that you got  _ The _ Alt Cunningham to help you guys. I always thought the stuff about her ‘escaping into the net’ was bullshit.”

“I was surprised the first time, when she contacted us in 2014, but when we found her in 2077? Not surprised at all. If anyone could survive on sheer willpower it would be her.” 

“Sometimes I forget how goddamn old you are. 2014!? My grandparents hadn’t even met yet, let alone had kids.” Johnny reeled.

“Damn. I slept for most of the time I was in Mikoshi and it’s not like Kerry or Rogue-” 

_ Rogue struggled against Smasher’s iron grip before shoving a grenade into his chest and- _

He blinked and Judy was looking back at him, as he had stopped walking. “Uh.. lacked money for.. Anti-aging stuff.” He picked up his pace again and clenched his fist so hard that he could feel the pain of nails against his palm. It kept him looking ahead at the dry California desert and listening to Judy talk instead of in Arasaka tower.

“You okay, dude?” He glanced over to her and realized what he was doing, relaxed his hand, cursing himself for doing the thing he had wanted not to do literally 10 minutes prior. He massaged the red crescent shapes he left on  _ her  _ palm and kept walking.

“Yeah.. It’s nothing.” She looked at him skeptically, but dropped it. 

They walked back into camp in silence but as they headed over to join the center of camp he tripped over a rock and if not for Judy catching him, he would have face planted in the dirt.

“Alright, old man. Time for bed.” Judy said. He tried to argue only to be cut off, “We still have like 9 and a half hours before we can even  _ think  _ about waking her up. I am going to sleep and  _ you _ are  _ also  _ going to sleep. Omen or Claire will wake us up if anything happens.”

Further arguments died on his tongue as he just realized  _ how tired _ he was. He realized that he hadn’t slept since before the raid on Arasoka tower and that was while V’s body was  _ actively dying. _ It says something to everyone who’s known him more than 30 seconds that he lets her shove him into a tent without further argument. He toed off his shoes, shrugged off the jacket, and fell into the cot without preamble, passing out almost instantly. 

_ He glitches into view to make a snarky comment. V smiles and rolls her eyes as she sits in a little plastic chair, looking over night city. She closes her eyes to enjoy a breeze on a warm summer day, her green and blue hair let down from its usual bun and framing her face. Her face twists into a sneer as she rounds the corner, her mantis blades out and covered in blood. He shoves her out of the way of a shot and directly into Smasher’s open grip. Smasher lifts her off the ground and he cries out, running towards her but never getting any closer as he watches her struggle. She was  _ screaming. He heard V scream.

He jolted awake and was out of bed instantly. He was drenched in sweat and his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest. He didn’t recognize his surroundings and he was  _ certain  _ he had heard her scream. He had to find her, he- caught a look of his reflection in the mirror and when V’s face stared back at him he finally remembered everything that had happened. He sat down on the little stool in front of the mirror. Her face looked back at him, haggard and still exhausted.

When he last saw her like this he had pressed her to sleep more, eat some food, take a shower, and generally take care of herself. She had waved him off and proceeded to continue to do whatever it was she was planning... but he was in charge now, so he was going to take care of her body, out of sheer spite.

He found Panam first for a change of clothes but the way she looked at him confirmed that he hadn’t just imagined V’s scream... He had been screaming in his sleep. Great. He quickly moved on from the concerned looks from those who knew him and, clothes in hand, he headed to the shower.

He paused at the shower they had set up. It was open air with a drawn curtain tucked against the side of the cliff. He paused as he approached the shower. He  _ had  _ to shower, he was sticky with sweat from the nightmare and still covered in grime from the fighting and traveling the night before but he had also purposely not paid attention when she had showered before. She deserved  _ some _ privacy. Should he just try not to look? No. He definitely needed to look if he was going to actually get clean. Wait, she had literally glued the dick onto his body, he was just being weird about this. 

Several moments later he still hadn’t moved to actually  _ do  _ anything. 

“Fuck.” he cursed to himself before he started stripping down, tossing V’s clothes into a pile before turning on the water. He cursed again after he was blasted with cold water, forgetting to let it warm up for a second. “Great fuckin’ start, Johnny.” he muttered to himself.

He washed the hair first, easy, not a problem. He scrubbed and it felt  _ nice _ , he never understood her need to have longer nails but as they raked over his scalp everything made sense. He detangled it and made sure it wasn’t going to be a problem when he brushed it later, but as he threaded his fingers through it for the third time with no snares he realized he was stalling.

He finally took a breath and steeled himself before grabbing the soap and allowed himself to look down at  _ her  _ body. He had always known she was gorgeous, toned from years of combat and just dangerous enough to carry it in her stance but the first couple days he was too pissed to appreciate it and then after he had tried not to make her uncomfortable, and so he had never lingered on it for too long. 

Now that he was alone though... Her copper skin was soft and supple but crisscrossed with pale scar tissue, one particularly nasty one was a gnarled mess at her waist. She was skinnier than he would have liked, not having eaten enough in the months they had been scrambling for against the clock for her life and before that she didn’t live a particularly lush life as a merc either. 

As he washed off he realized several things. One: The nails made both more and less sense as he tried to actually use his hands and accidentally clawed himself, two: That she was very sensitive on her neck and ribs, and three: clits were more sensitive than he expected. In the couple times he had made out and played with people in her body he had been more focused on his partner than himself and so when he brushed up against it he was surprised to say the least. 

“Are you alive!?” He almost jumped out of his skin as Panam called from the other side of the curtain. “Better not be doin’ anything fuckin weird.” 

“Uh.. I’m almost done.” He called back, a bit awkwardly. He usually never cared if someone walked in on him but this was different, more personal than just  _ being naked _ . 

“Well hurry up, time's almost up for the diagnostic and we’re all gonna sit down and take a look at it in her tent.”

“Alright, be out soon.” 

After he heard her walk away he quickly washed off and threw on the borrowed clothes that Panam had loaned him, no space for any thoughts other than V possibly being okay.

He moved the tent flap out of the way and found Judy, Omen, Claire, Mitch, and Panam sitting around the tent. In the center there was his body. It looked much the same that it had when they had arrived except for one of his eyes was still out of its socket, revealing the cording underneath and the knee that had been giving her trouble didn’t have any skin on it, leaving the chrome base open to the air. He felt a shiver of  _ wrongness  _ crawl up his spine as he looked at it.

He tore his eyes from the body and to the assembled crew. The atmosphere was tense as everyone didn’t say a word. The unease in his gut grew as he broke the silence.

“So? What’s up?”

Omen turned the monitor so that he could see and he saw a red warning label near the head... Where V was.


End file.
